The Morning After
by KaitieD
Summary: The Avengers wake up after a night out celebrating to find that they may have made some regrettable decisions


"Good morning, sir" Jarvis said, opening the blinds and starting the coffee brewing in the kitchen. "It is now 8:30 a.m."

Tony groaned, wondering why it was so damn bright in his room. Rolling over and cracking one eye open, he realized that he wasn't in his bedroom. Instead, he was lying on the living room rug. Sitting up groggily, he also realized he had a splitting headache, a sure sign that the previous night had been an interesting one.

Glancing around, he saw that he wasn't alone in the room, the rest of the Avengers were sprawled around as well. Barton and Thor were practically cuddling on the couch, Steve was sprawled across the armchair with his legs over the back and his head nearly touching the floor, and Bruce was lying across the coffee table…naked. Seeing a pair of feet sticking out from behind the couch, Tony walked over to investigate and saw that Coulson was there as well. Natasha was nowhere to be seen, but her jacket was thrown over a chair, so she had to be around somewhere.

"So anyone remember what happened last night?" Tony said loudly enough to stir the sleeping men.

Barton was the first to open his eyes and he immediately tried to wiggle out from under Thor's bulk. Thor, still mostly asleep, just squeezed tighter and snuggled his face into Clint's chest.

"Dude, come on, get up" Clint said, shoving Thor hard enough that he tumbled off the couch, taking Clint with him. Both men grunted at the impact and slowly go to their feet. As they stood up, Clint pointed at Thor's right arm. "Hey man, what's that?"

"What?" Thor asked, looking down at his bicep. "What is that?"

Clint and Tony took a closer look, both bursting into laughter at the same time. There on Thor's arm was a tattoo of Mjolnir with 'Hammer Time' written underneath.

"Oh my god" Tony said gasping for breath, "that's embarrassing." He reached over slapped Clint on the back good naturedly.

"Ow" Clint said, flinching at Tony's touch. They both froze, knowing that Tony hadn't hit him hard enough to hurt. Slowly, Clint lifted up his shirt and they saw 'Natasha' written across Clint's right shoulder blade.

Clint's face went pale, but Tony started laughing again. "It's not funny" Clint said, eyes darting around, searching for the Black Widow. "She's going to kill me when she sees this!"

"I'm sure she'll see it as a compliment" Tony managed to get out. Turning to where Steve and Bruce were laying, he called out to them. "Hey guys, get up, you have to see this."

"Ha!"

Tony turned back to see Clint pointing at him.

"Think it's so funny? What's that on your back?"

Tony reached over and gently touched his shoulder, feeling a tender spot. Walking across the room to look in a mirror, he saw a jumble of scientific symbols on his back with words underneath. Squinting to make them out, he suddenly yelled "What the hell does 'Science Bros' mean? And who picked these symbols? They don't even make sense?"

Clint and Thor were enjoying Tony's outrage, but it was about to get even better. As Tony stormed back across the room they head Bruce mumble something.

"What?" Clint asked, turning to look at the sheepish man.

"Uh…well this is awkward" Bruce repeated, staring down at his calf.

The three men all walked over and peered down. "Oh for the love of god!" Tony thundered, seeing a matching 'Science Bros' tattoo.

"Well I guess that explains it" Clint sputtered, collapsing on the couch in a fit of laughter.

"Hey guys, what does 'YOLO' mean?" they heard Steve ask from behind them. They turned and saw him staring at a bald eagle with a YOLO banner streaming out behind it on his forearm. Even Tony had to laugh at this and Steve frowned, not understanding the reference.

"It means 'You Only Live Once' which is funny since you kind of lived twice" Tony finally managed to get out, dissolving back into laughter at the scowl that crossed Steve's face. "Oh c'mon Cap, even you have to see the humor in it."

"I like it" Coulson said, standing up from where he had been laying.

"Of course you do" Clint replied. "Ok, so what did you get? You can't be the only one who didn't get anything."

"I didn't" Phil said, casually trying to roll down his sleeves.

"Oh no you don't" Tony said, grabbing him by the wrist and yanking his sleeve up. "I should have known!" he yelped, clutching his stomach as laughter overtook him once again. Pretty soon Thor, Bruce, and Clint had joined in, having seen the Captain America shield with Steve's autograph underneath it.

"You probably don't even regret it" Clint chuckled, finally calming down. Phil just blushed.

"Just keep quiet, will you? It's not exactly a professional tattoo for a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to have."

Everyone had finally settled down and were all giving their own ink a closer look when they heard the front door open. Natasha came in carrying a bag of groceries.

"Good morning, sleeping beauties" she said, dropping everything on the counter. "I figured you might all need a big breakfast after last night."

"What happened anyway?" Tony asked, wincing. Now that the hilarity had ended, his headache was back full-force.

"You guys can't hold your liquor is what happened" Natasha chuckled, unpacking everything. "Here, someone start cooking, I'm going to hop in the shower."

As she headed down the hallway, she stopped and called over her shoulder, "Love the new tats, by the way. Especially yours, Clint."

"You didn't get one too?" Steve asked.

"Like I said, I'm not some lightweight who can't handle herself" Natasha said, closing the bathroom door. She stripped down and bent over to turn on the water. As she stood back up, she caught sight of something on her hip. Looking down, she saw in small, delicate script, 'Clint.'

"Shit."


End file.
